Featured Ivory? Cane top? Art Deco?

Picked this up for a buck at the thrift store. Best guess is that it is a cane top, though it doesn't fit the hand terribly well. Seems it should have more of a knob shape. Seems a bit large and heavy for a parasol handle. 4.5" long (11.5 cm.) long. Widest point is just slightly over 1.5" (4cm.). Looks like the top dome is a separate piece but I can't get it to unscrew. May try to clean it a bit and try again. What do you all say?

 

Schreger lines sure seem to be visible on your pics.

 

Definitely ivory. Traveling corkscrew missing a bit?

 

Thritto re ivory. The blue 'stone' looks like glass.
No idea what the item could be, but it doesn't look like a cane or parasol handle to me. Looks like we need Marote to find something similar, but he is away for a month, with little internet access.

 

Well, that was poor planning.

Debora

 

Very inconsiderate, if you ask me.

 

What an interesting thrift shop find. The internet thinks it's the pommel of a walking stick.

Debora

 

I agree, ivory. I am curious about the metal staple in the burl wood part. It looks like it might be for a strap. Would a walking stick have had a strap?

The design on the ivory looks sort of Egyptian, which might suggest a date during one of the Egyptian revivals.

 

No question of the ivory. If it's solid, no wonder it's heavy. I think it may be a parasol handle. The wood has a staple for a strap, and the metal pole for the umbrella/parasol would have slid into the wooden piece, also serving as the part you gripped.

 

Me, too...it may be for a strap...but its proximity to the burl wouldn't accommodate leather heavy enough to be useful...I think?

 

Hmm...to me, more like glazed, fired clay...or Turquoise.
I defer, however, to your superior wisdom, AJ!

 

Didn't realize my pics were so huge. Posted from my phone. I thought the staple is to hold it onto the shaft of whatever, but for a strap is a possibility. Might be a later addition? I do think the beads glass. Unfortunately, it is missing 2 of the 4 it originally had.

 

a buck , you say !
that metal staple must be a clue.............. as is the number 14 to marry the two parts correctly ..

 

Do you think a silver band fitted at the base over the staple? The base does appear to have a bit of discoloration from being covered. (At least, that's the way it appears in the photographs.) And would explain why only the top of the item ended up on a thrift store.

Debora

 

Extremely cool find Brad, and inspiring for me as a thrift store addict.

 

I see no evidence of any covering on the wood , only a lighter shading under the metal band which would account for it halting hand oils or rubbing from reaching that area...

 

Absolutely definitely ivory.

I reckon it may be a walking-stick handle. Rings, staples, hooks etc, on walking-stick shafts / collars were definitely a thing, and they were used to pass a lanyard through, so that you could hang your stick from your arm / wrist when needing both hands free. Could also be for something else long (brolly / parasol). We may never know 100% for sure.

It already has a threaded rod on it - you could turn it back into a walking stick!

 

I'd call the motif Egyptian revival. Which would give it an approximate date.

Debora

 

Does the ivory piece actually screw into the wood? I.e., is the wood also threaded?

 

I don't see any clear thread marks on the bottom hole..